New Microsoft feature aims to prevent CrowdStrike-like outages on Windows

TL;DR: Microsoft is testing a new feature called Quick Machine Recovery that's designed to help IT teams restore unbootable Windows 11 devices remotely. The move comes nearly a year after the infamous CrowdStrike outage, which left countless businesses scrambling to manually fix systems.

The feature, part of Microsoft's Windows Resiliency Initiative, was first announced last year. It's now being tested as part of the latest Windows Insider Preview build – specifically, version 6120.3653.

For the uninitiated, last July, a faulty kernel-level update from CrowdStrike triggered Blue Screens of Death on millions of Windows machines, disrupting critical infrastructure, including airlines and banks. Many IT admins had to physically access affected devices to resolve the issue.

With Quick Machine Recovery, Microsoft aims to avoid another CrowdStrike-style situation. The feature can be found in the Advanced options menu for the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE), as shown below.